


a hundred ways to say i love you

by DefiantDreams



Series: Alternate Universe Challenge [8]
Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: (somewhat canon in the sense that it follows the story), Alternate Universe, Canon Compliant, Domestic Fluff, M/M, Magical Realism
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-18
Updated: 2017-05-18
Packaged: 2018-11-02 04:28:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,724
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10937004
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DefiantDreams/pseuds/DefiantDreams
Summary: In a world where you only have 100 words a day, how else can you say I love you?Growing up, Viktor never really saw the point of saving his Words and Yuuri never really saw the point of using them at all.And then Sochi happens.





	a hundred ways to say i love you

**Author's Note:**

> a lot of my fics are dialogue heavy. here’s an AU where im literally forcing myself to cut down on dialogue. 
> 
> also fulfills L- Limits for my AU challenge.

“Stop.”

Viktor looks up, his mouth open in the midst of a sentence. He catches his mother’s twinkling gaze with his own eyes and Viktor giggles. There’s a fond, exasperated smile on her lips—gentle and sweet, just like her. He tells her so.

His mother sighs and bends down before she scoops him up into her arms. She boops his nose with her finger, and shakes her head with a rueful smile. She hesitates, pursing her lips slightly, and Viktor knows that she’s thinking of what to say and the best way to say it. He knows, because everyone else does it, everyone around him always chooses their words so carefully.

Except for him.

Viktor tilts his head and observes the wrinkle of his mother’s forehead. Finally, the wrinkle disappears and his mother smiles again as she strokes a hand through his hair.

“Make your Words count, Vitenka.”

Logically, Viktor knows that’s his name. He’s said it before, he’s introduced himself—but, he hardly ever hears it.  Hardly anyone ever says anyone’s name, or anything that doesn’t need to be said. Saying someone’s name was a waste of Words when you can just address them without it. Hearing it now from his mother’s mouth, Viktor feels warm inside. The thought that his mama has decided that his name is worth it today, worth passing through her lips and worth decreasing her quota for, it touches Viktor more than anything else she could say to him right now.

“Mama,” Viktor starts insistently, because he wants her to know, he wants her to understand how much she means to him and how much he cares for her. She deserves it, she deserves the world and everything Viktor could give her, Words included.

“I—“ _love you._

Viktor’s mouth opens soundlessly, and instantly, he feels annoyed. Only silence comes out of his lips. Viktor grunts frustratedly and opens his mouth to try again despite at how useless it is and despite how he knows there’s no point.

“I love you, I love you, I love you,” he wants to say.

But he can’t. He can’t say anything at all. There’s no vice grip on his throat, no pain, nothing that would stop from him speaking. There’s nothing that should hold him back, but nothing comes out of his mouth anyway.

His mother seems to understand the look in his eyes because she puts him down gently and raises her delicate hands up to cup his cheeks. At her touch, Viktor closes his eyes and instinctively tilts his head towards one of her hands. 

When he feels  a tap on his cheeks, he opens his eyes to his mother’s smile. His mama pulls her hands away and signs.

ME-SAY-FOR (you)

Viktor smiles and his mother takes a deep breath.

“I love you,” she says and it doesn’t sound quite the same from her lips. It doesn’t have the impact Viktor knows his own voice would have and it doesn’t carry the same weight that Viktor’s own ‘I love you’ would have had.

But he has no Words left and it’s good enough for now. He jumps at his mom and hugs her, burying his face in the crook of her neck. His mother pats his back gently and Viktor sighs contentedly. From the corner of his eye, Viktor sees the counter on his wrist and the bright red 0 it displays.

 _Tomorrow_ , Viktor promises himself. Tomorrow he’ll tell her he loves her—over and over until his counter reaches zero once more and until his mother gets the ‘I love you’s that she deserves.

But for now, all Viktor can do is press a wet kiss to her cheek and hope that it’s enough.

 

—

 

When Yuuri raises his arms up to brush his hair back, his long sleeves slip down a bit to reveal his counter. He hears an animalistic, frustrated, guttural noise that scares him. He looks to the source, his eyes wide, and there’s an annoyed twist on Nishigori’s lips.

He gestures at Yuuri’s wrist and rolls his eyes and in confusion, Yuuri looks at his counter. The bright red 100 still blinks up at him, just as it did the start of the day. 

He looks away from it to meet Nishigori’s eyes and Nishigori is shaking his head. Yuuri sees his jaw clench, and he waits for him to speak.

“Wasted words,” Nishigori simply says as he points at Yuuri’s counter. He finishes his thought with his hands, their movement aggressive and sharp.

IF-(not) TALK-SOMEONE-ELSE-SHOULD-HAVE-WORDS

“Hey!” They both turn in surprise to see Yuuko, hands on her hips and defiant expression on her face.

“Yuuri can use his words in any way he wants!” she says, head held up high as she addresses Nishigori. Yuuri’s eyes widen. That was 10 words. Yu-chan just used 10 words to defend him. With the identical look of shock on Nishigori’s face, he must know how much that means too.

He swallows and looks away. He stares down at his counter and thinks of something to say to defend himself so that Yuuko doesn’t have to. But he can’t find the words, he doesn’t know he can explain himself and let Nishigori know that he just didn’t think he had anything worth saying.

If anyone wanted his Words, and if you could transfer your quota for a day to someone else, Yuuri would, no questions asked. He’d give them to Yu-chan or Mari-neesan or his parents. He doesn’t need to say much, he keeps his head down for a reason. But it still hurts to hear from Nishigori that someone else deserved his quota of words, and it hurt to be accused of wasting.

Yuuri couldn’t even justify it with saying that Nishigori didn’t mean it, because with so little words in a day, no one says anything they don’t mean. That, more than not using your words at all, was more of a waste, in Yuuri’s opinion.

But Yuuri’s opinion doesn’t count for much, so he just doesn’t say anything.

 

—

 

Viktor has too much to say, and so little Words to say it. The only way he can say what he wants to say is through skating, through showing people how he feels.

When reports ask him year after year what his programs are about, Viktor can’t help but feel frustrated. _Don’t you see?_ he wants to scream. _Can’t you hear me?_

And they don’t.

All everyone cares about is what he can do. More jumps, better jumps, better TES, break more world records, win more gold medals—more, more, more. Viktor is never quite enough. Enough to win, yes, but never enough to meet others’ expectations. It’s fitting then that Viktor never has enough words in a day, never goes to sleep without a 0 on his wrist.

Was he going to live like this forever? Was he always going to run out of Words everyday, run out of steam until he could no longer skate anymore?

He thought so, but then—but then, Yuuri Katsuki comes into his life, a hot mess, drunk off his ass and baring his whole being to everyone in the room, Viktor included. He was so sincere, somehow saying so much despite actually saying so little in reality. Viktor has never met anyone like him, a man who could tell a story so clearly through his body. Yuuri didn’t just make music through his body, he made speeches and announcements and vows and—if a picture is worth a thousand words, Yuuri Katsuki’s dancing was limitless, a whole gallery of pictures displayed for everyone and an open book for everyone to read.

Viktor never thought he could ever be enough, could never be liked for who he truly was instead of the Living Legend. But then Yuuri Katsuki wraps his arms around him, and says 4 Words, loud and clear:

“Be my coach, Viktor!”

And Viktor is thrown, his whole world knocked out of its axis. 

It’s not the first time Yuuri’s surprised him that night, and if Viktor had his way, it wouldn’t be the last either.

 

—

 

The way Viktor coaches is not like his old coaches. He still has his signs with him, little flashcards that explain what Yuuri is doing wrong or right, but Viktor is with him on the rink more often than he isn’t. Ciao Ciao was always rinkside, holding up his signs that sometimes said ’too slow’ or ‘great job’ or ‘again!’, but Viktor?

Viktor talked through his hands. Everyone did, yes, and Yuuri is glad that they’re both proficient enough in the Universal Sign to get their points across, but what Yuuri is referring to is how touchy and affectionate Viktor is. Viktor corrects his form with gentle hands, squeezes his shoulder with pride whenever Yuuri nails an element, and throughout the day, finds reason to touch him at any moment. Somehow, despite not saying anything all, his touches seem to hold so much meaning. Yuuri isn’t quite sure yet what that meaning is or if there’s even any meaning to his touches at all, really, but Viktor’s touch feels too heavy sometimes to be anything but touches with meaning.

Yuuri never would have known it with how stoic and reserved Viktor is on camera, but the older man had a habit of using up all his words by mid-day, often leaving him sulky in the evening. It wasn’t even that he was talking to everyone, Viktor’s spoken English was good enough to be media-worthy, but most of the residents in Hasetsu never bothered with learning spoken English.

Yuuri’s own family only knew the basics, far too used to communicating in Universal Sign or written English or Japanese or Japanese Sign. It’s not like there were much people willing to waste their Words talking to the people behind the counter.

No. Viktor talked to Yuuri’s family and to Yuuri, letting his counter tick down without any thought until eventually, he ran out too fast.

Every yelled, “Beautiful!” Viktor threw at him from the side of rink always jolted Yuuri. The first time it happened, Yuuri’s first thought was, ‘That was a good jump, but it didn’t deserve your Word.’

And then, when Yuuri finally does a clean, perfect run of Eros, Viktor skates into the middle of ice to embrace him and twirl him around amidst Yuuri’s screeches. Yuuri uses so much of his Words then just to make him stop.

“Beautiful!” Viktor praises, accent heavy. “Amazing! Beautiful! Astounding! Perfect!”

With every word that comes out of Viktor’s mouth, the wider Yuuri’s eyes become.  So many words... And they were all for Yuuri. All to let him know how amazing he was. The fact that Viktor was actually using his Words for that…Yuuri could barely believe it.

He repays Viktor the only way he can—with his own Words. Yuuri stands in front of everyone, on live television, with his Counter still at 100.

He uses up all 100 of them to tell the world how much he loves Viktor Nikiforov.

And when Viktor asks him what Yuuri wanted Viktor to be, Yuuri uses his Words to tell him that all he wanted was for Viktor be Viktor.

 

—

 

Viktor runs out to launch himself at Yuuri right after Yuuri’s Eros skate. He honestly wasn’t planning to, but—that quad flip had moved him so much. The quad flip that Yuuri had placed at the end of his routine said so much. 100 Words was nothing compared to it.

This whole time, Viktor’s been struggling to use his Words to communicate with Yuuri, and Yuuri just completely blew past that and used a completely different language to surprise him. The language of skating, the story of their routines, all of these are meant to bear your soul on the ice and Yuuri today has exposed himself like he has never done before.

Viktor doesn’t have any Words left, not after the garage, but when their lips press together, and when Yuuri is lying on his back on the ice and staring at him with a surprised, fond smile, Viktor finds that he doesn’t need them.

 

—

 

Viktor stands in front of Yuuri, his eyes wide as Yuuri pulls off his glove and slips a ring on VIktor’s proper ring finger.

Yuuri uses 29 of his Words to thank him, promise his best for tomorrow and then, ask Viktor to say something for good luck. Viktor looks down at his counter, on the same hand as the ring and frowns at the bright red 12 blinking at him. He’s been getting better at saving his Words for Yuuri, but right now, he feels like it’s as good as a time as any to use them up now.

For the first time in his life, Viktor thinks about what he’s going to say before he says it. For the first time in his life, Viktor counts his words.

“Show me the skating that you can honestly say you liked best.”

When they see their friends and Chris asks about the rings, Phichit uses 7 of his words to announce to the whole restaurant that they got married. Yuuri weakly denies it, his stuttering still ticking his counter down. All Viktor does is grin wide and sign

ENGAGED

over and over, until Yuuri is bright red and covering his face.

 

—

 

Yuuri comes home to the sound of the television, the smell of food, and the sight of Viktor Nikiforov in only his underwear and an apron. He smiles, and puts his things down in the hallway before he makes his way to the kitchen where Viktor is standing in front of the stove.

He wraps his arms around Viktor’s waist from behind and presses his head to Viktor’s back.  Viktor’s free hand pats his arm, giving it an affectionate squeeze full of meaning. It’s a _hello_ and _I love you all_ in one gesture.

Yuuri pulls away and smiles up at the taller man and Viktor’s eyes are tender as he gazes down. Yuuri grabs hold of his hand and squeezes gently as he tilts his head, trying to convey with his eyes the I love you he wants to say.

Viktor leans down and presses their lips together, soft and gentle, and Yuuri knows he’s been heard. They pull away from each other and Yuuri wraps an arm around Viktor’s waist, his head tilting to rest on Viktor’s shoulder.

Viktor taps him on the shoulder so Yuuri tilts his head up and raises an eyebrow. The other man gestures to the stove, his eyes sparkling with pride and excitement, and an expectant smile on his face. I cooked for you, he seemed to be saying.

He glances at the stove and sees the pot full of something red. He can’t quite tell what it is right now, and he looks up at Viktor with a questioning glance as he motions toward the pot.

Viktor grins and wraps an arm around his shoulder before he points at the cook book near the edge of the counter. Yuuri squints slightly, and sees the bold **борщ** on the very top. He stares at in blankly, the Cyrillic letters still somewhat unfamiliar to him.

Viktor seems to notice the look on Yuuri’s face because he laughs. He opens his mouth, and nothing comes out and Yuuri sees the moment his face turns frustrated. Viktor huffs and reaches for his phone before going to the text to speech.

He types something in, and when the man’s voice comes out of his phone, Yuuri nods in understanding. Ah. Borsch. He shakes his head and kisses Viktor’s cheek. When he pulls away, Viktor is immediately signing.

KNOW-TIRED-YOU

WANT-HELP (you)

Yuuri smiles at that, feeling touched inside. He’s usually the one that cooks, but it’s true that he’s been tired with training for 4 Continents since it was in only a few weeks time. He hesitates, before he opens his mouth.

“Thank you, Vitya.”

Viktor’s eyes light up and he beams giddily before he leans down and presses three kisses to Yuuri’s mouth. Yuuri laughs and pulls away, just to tip toe up again to press three responding kisses to Viktor’s mouth.

Viktor gently pushes him away and shoos him towards the living room and Yuuri rolls his eyes.

Later, when they’re eating, Yuuri sees the pout that Viktor is sending his counter with the bright red zero practically glaring back at him. Yuuri lets out an amused huff of air and reaches out to cover it with his hands. Viktor looks up at him, his petulant expression fading into confusion. Yuuri smiles at him, and then with his finger, he deliberately draws a heart on the space just below the band on Viktor’s wrist.

Viktor turns red, a pleased expression blossoming on his face and Yuuri stifles a laugh as he pulls his hand away slightly before he turns it up to reveal his own counter. He’s still on 85 right now, and he has more than enough to say what he wants to say.

“I love you too,” Yuuri says clearly and Viktor’s face turns wistful and somewhat sad. Yuuri already knows what he’s thinking from the red 0 on Viktor’s wrist and he shakes his head resolutely. He gestures towards the food that Viktor prepared for him, not because he asked, but because Viktor noticed that he was tired and wanted to do something for him.

Viktor avoids his eyes he signs,

(not) SAID-I LOVE YOU-TODAY

Yuuri reaches out again to squeeze Viktor’s hand and Viktor turns his head to look at him. “I love you too, Vitya,” Yuuri stresses, because he wants Viktor to hear, he wants Viktor to understand that even if Viktor’s always out of Words at the end of the day to say I love you, Yuuri still knows

At Yuuri’s repetition of his words, Viktor’s face turns into surprise. There’s no point for repeating words when you only have so little, but it’s worth it to see the look on Viktor’s face.

 

—

 

“Vitya,” Yuuri moans out, shamelessly and unabashed. His Counter ticks down to 89 and Viktor smirks deviously as he watches Yuuri’s grip tighten on his sheets. He presses his lips tighter around Yuuri and takes him into his mouth again and Yuuri cries out loudly.

“Vitya, Vitya, Vitya,” Yuuri chants mindlessly, eyes squeezed shut. 88, 87, 86.

Viktor has always loved hearing his Name, especially from Yuuri, but hearing them now? It’s the sweetest music he has ever heard. Each Word is worth twice than what they usually are, and Viktor’s goal is to get Yuuri to 0 by the time he’s done with him. Each ‘Vitya’ is an I love you all in itself, and each time Viktor hears his name, he can’t help but feel so blessed to have this beautiful man underneath him.

When Yuuri gasps out a “Oh, fuck!” and then a mixture of Japanese expletives that Viktor has never heard spoken before, Viktor can’t help but snicker. Yuuri’s timer ticks down to 70 all in one go and Viktor realizes that maybe, it won’t be so hard to get Yuuri to lose all his Words all in one night.

 

—

 

Yuuri is woken up by three soft kisses to his forehead and he groans. He blinks his eyes open, squinting slightly in the muted light of their bedroom. Hints of gold are splaying on their floor from underneath the curtains and Viktor is squatting at the edge of the bed in his jogging attire, eyes on Yuuri.

Yuuri’s face scrunches and he whines wordlessly to duck his head underneath the blanket. Too early, fuck, he didn’t want to jog.

He feels a light touch to the top of his head that’s still above the blanket and he shakes his head. Viktor laughs and strokes his hair gently.

“Good morning, I love you,” Viktor says quietly and Yuuri can’t help but smile. He makes a sound back, not quite coherent enough to remember how to speak English. He falls back asleep, moments later.

He doesn’t think it’s odd until the days pass into a week, and every morning, Viktor wakes him up for a minute before he goes out to jog. And everyday, without fail, Viktor says, “Good morning, I love you.”

Yuuri doesn’t quite understand, but he lets it happen.

And then suddenly, he keeps finding Viktor in the early evening with his counter still on 5. Usually, Viktor is out of Words by noon, and Yuuri feels off footed at the sudden appearance of 5’s throughout every evening.

Every night, right before they go to sleep, Viktor strokes his hair, and kisses him softly. 

And every night, he says, “Goodnight Yuuri, I love you.”

Yuuri was always a little slow on the uptake, but it takes one of Viktor’s fans asking him on twitter what the best way to spend his 100 Words is.

 

—

 

The two of them are awfully domestic, and Viktor _loves_ it. The more time he spends with Yuuri, the more he realizes that he doesn’t need to say I love you to get his point across.

In the morning, Viktor makes a simple breakfast, because Lord knows what havoc a half-awake Yuuri could do. Yuuri always slides up behind him to sleepily wrap his arms around Viktor’s waist. Their mornings are silent, gentle touches and signs getting them through. They get through their morning routine without Words, and oddly enough, it’s nice. Viktor has never liked the silence, but there’s something peaceful and serene in the quiet spaces with Yuuri.

Everyday, Viktor prepares Yuuri’s skating things for him, and Yuuri makes them a bento box of lunch.  He makes a box for Yuri, and always claims it’s “extra”, but everyone knows that it’s really just for Yuri.

After training, when Viktor’s more or less already used up his Words, they go out sometimes and Yuuri will speak for him if needed.

When one of them is sick, the other will take care of them, wordlessly and without complaint. 

Before they part, for some reason or another, they kiss each other thrice. I, Love, You.

Their house is silent, but filled with love.

It’s so easy being with Yuuri and for the first time, Viktor finds that he doesn’t need his Words to get by.

**Author's Note:**

> So I’ve been learning ASL the past months, but it’s very self-thought. If I’m still getting the grammar wrong, please correct me! If ever it says (you), it just means that the sign is directional and that the you is implied in the direction the sign is going. I based the Universal Sign off ASL because ASL is what I know HAHA, I’m sorry if that offends anyone!
> 
> this could have been angstier and filled with miscommunication due to the lack of actual speaking but—honestly, im really struggling in school right now and i just wanted to write something light hearted to get my mind off it. i honestly dont really like how this turned out, but it's done and i had to get it out of me.


End file.
